Staple puller



March 25, 1930' H. REIC LLLLLLLLL ER 5y w 7 Azormgys.

a fulcrum readily and easily withdraw the Patented Mar. 25, 1930 HERMAN REICH, OF

PATENT OFFICE DES MOI-HES, IOWA STAPLE FULLER Application filed April 16,

This invention relates to staple pullers of that class especially designed for use in connection with the removal of wire fences in which the wires are held to upright posts by staples.

The object of my invention is to provide a staple puller of this class in which the sharpened point of the staple puller may be readily, quickly and easily driven into the post in which the staple is embedded, and during said driving movement the sharpened end may be easily held in proper position for entering the post so that the flattened upper surface of the end of the staple puller may engage the fence Wire at the point where the staple crosses the fence wire, and so that said point, while being driven may be easily held by the operator against twisting or turning movements such as might be caused by the grain of the wood into which the staple is driven, and whereby when the staple puller has been driven to the proper point, the operator may by utilizing the puller handle as staple from the wood.

Also to provide a tool of this class in which the staple may be pulled just as readily from a point in the post adjacent to the ground surface as it can from any other point.

My invention consists in the construction of the staple puller, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a top or plan view of a staple puller embodying my invention.

Figure 2 shows a side elevation of same.

Figure 3 shows a transverse sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows a transverse sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 shows a side elevation of the lower portion of the fence post with a fence wire adjacent thereto and a staple driven into the post and across the wire, and with my improved staple puller having its point inserted into the post at the proper point to be driven under the wire and staple.

1928. Serial '.No. 270',330.

Figure 6 shows a horizontal sectional view on the line 6 6- of Figure'f); and

Figure 7 shows a similar view with'the staple :puller driven into the fPOSt to' such an extent as to partly move'the staple outwardly.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

any improved I staple puller comprises a handle or bodyportion 10. l his handle 'or body portion is made relatively flat on its top*and bottonrand ofgreater width than its thickness,so that when held in the operators hand it can be held against ftwisting or turning movements as distinguished from-articles of this kind having round or nearly round handles which cannot be convenientlyheld against twisting movements.

At one: end of the handleithere is aitapered point indicated generally by the'numeral 11 and this tapered point is'projected relative to the handle atianangle of about 32". -Its 7 top surface is made flat for the purposeshere- .inafter made clear,:and its under surfaee is :also made fiat transversely, but the bottom surface tapers toward the top' surface to a point :near the endof the tool where'it is rounded at 12.

As will be seen in Figures Sand 7, the tool point tapers from a maximum width at the bottomto a somewhatless width'at'the -top, but'both the bottom :and top are flat.

so In the drawings the'reference numeral 13 is used to indicate a'stapleiofordinary con struction driven into apost L14 to hold awire 15, and when the staple is thus driven into the post ordinarily-the wire becom'es kinked, as shownat '16 in Figure 6.

Assuming that it is desired to remove a.

fence wire from-a post,:and that zthisfence wire-is'near thebottom ofthe post, then the operator places thertool'in. theaposition shown in Figure '5, with the pointed end meeting against the wooden post, 'Wltllfitlle mnder surface of the tool;point;adjacentto the pos't at \the :handle end :of :the'atool; and thus I forces I00 the pointed end into the wood of the post to about the position shown in Figure 6. That is to say, with the upper face of the pointed end in engagement with the kinked portion 16 of the wire-15, and insuch position that when the point is further driven it will pass diagonally through between the ends of the staple. Then the tool is struck repeatedly with a hammer and the pointed end is driven to the position shown in Figure 7. During this operation the broad fiat under surface of the pointed end is in engagement with the post and will penetrate it only to a slight degree. The flat upper outer'surface of the pointed end will draw the staple away from v the post;

In this connection it should be explained that when the staples are driven into the hard wood, the staple adheres so firmly to face of the tool engaged the fence wire 1mthe post that if an irregular or rounded surwith a rounded portion near its end curved upwardly to meet the flat upper portion of the end portion, the said end portion being disposed at an angle relative to the body of approximately 32 so that an operator may by striking hammer blows upon the other end of the body easily drive the tapered end into a post under a staple and fence wire.

Des Moines, Iowa, April 4,1928.

HERMAN REICH.

,mediately under the end of the staple, it

will require so much force to remove the staple as would tend to first break or out the wire, but by having a flat broad surface at the upper portion of the pointed end, this fiat broad surface engages so much of the fence wire that it will not cut the wire, but instead will withdraw the staple.

After the tool is firmly inserted through the eye of the staplein the position shown in Figure 7 the operator need only move the handle end of the lever in a direction toward'the post, so that the post forms a fulcrum for'the lever and the staple is easily withdrawn.

By having the point provided with a straight upper face and a round lower face, asshown at 12 in Figure 2, the point may readily be driven into the post, and when driven far enough to engage the wire, the handle end may be'usedas a lever for pulling the staple without danger of breaking off the pointed end. This round surface also 7 tends to prevent the point from penetrating too deeply into the post as it tends to guide the end out of the post and in such direction as to pull out the staple instead of penetrating the post.

I claim as my invention:

A staple puller especially designed for removing fence wires held to wooden posts by staples, said puller comprising in combination a straight handle portion formed oblong in cross section, so that it may be firmly held against twisting movements in the operators hand, and having one end designed to receive hammer blows, the other end of the body being formed with a tapered end portion, the

sides thereof being tapered from the body portion toward the point, and being also tapered from the under surface toward the upper surface, said under surface and said upper surface both being formed flat in cross section, and the lower surface being formed 

